A past remembered
by Floralina Starling
Summary: When Athos finds some information on his ex-wife's whereabouts , he decides to go and find her.


This is the first chapter of my first story on fanfiction. It's mostly based on the musical. It hasn't been beta-read, so it is possible there are a few grammar and spelling mistakes. Especially since English isn't my first/native language. If you see them, please feel free to point them out, so I can learn from them and improve my English.

For now: enjoy my story!

Summary: When Athos finds some information on his ex-wife's whereabouts , he decides to go and find her.

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is probably not my own.

**Chapter one: The note**

Athos and his friends sat at a table at a local inn. They were heading back to Paris after a mission they had been send on by the king. They would stay the night in the Inn and leave for Paris first thing in the morning.  
>It was pretty busy in the room. The air was filled with talking and laughing. Athos wasn't joining. As always, he preferred to be by himself; rather siting back, listening and taking everything in then actually joining a conversation. In the background he heard the innkeeper talking to a young man. A boy still, actually. D'Artagnan's age maybe, or probably even younger. He seemed to be some sort of carrier or messenger.<br>'I don't believe you.' Even though he sat with his back to the couple, Athos could still hear the skepticism in the innkeepers voice. 'She would never do anything like that. Tell me, kid, why would she abandon an assignment?'  
>' I don't know!' the boy answered, his voice turning more insecure and even a little desperate now that he seemingly wasn't received the way he expected to be received. 'She didn't tell me, but it's true!'<br>Boy, don't waste your time like that, Athos thought. It was obvious to him the tavern owner would never listen to such a young brat, let alone take him seriously. In his opinion the boy should wait a few years and gain some experience before running errands like this.  
>The boy wanted to say something, but the innkeeper cut him short.<br>'Just like I thought. That's because she wouldn't! It's not like her.'  
>'I … I have a letter…' the boy stammered. He started to fidget in his pockets nervously. The innkeepers sighting made it clear he was getting impatient. '..a letter from Milady de Winter herself.'<br>De Winter?(1) Suddenly the conversation had Athos' full attention. He knew that name. There has been a time the woman he knew by that name meant everything to him and a time he never wanted to see her again. Both had been years ago. Her had never forgotten her, but because of his duties as a musketeer, he hadn't been thinking about her a lot lately. But now she was mentioned again by this unfamiliar boy.  
>Could it really be her? At first he dismissed the thought. I would be too much of a coincidence. After all, she was not the only De Winter in the world, not even in this country. And there were probably even more in England. The chance of this being about the same woman would be very small. But what if it was? What if the woman the boy was talking about was really Sabine?(2) He had to know. Slowly he turned his head a little, careful enough not to draw attention. He could now see them in the corner of his eye without giving away he was listening in.<br>The boy had found the letter and gave it to the Innkeeper, who took it and quickly scanned it.  
>'Hm ... seems to be in order.' The innkeeper a little more mellow. 'This explains quite a few things. Guess I've misjudged you after all.' He gave the boy a small smile. 'Come with me.'<br>They disappeared to the back. The letter laid forgotten on the table. The urge was almost irresistible. He looked at his friends. Aramis and D'Artagnan were deeply involved in a conversation. Porthos had left his seat and was now on the other side of the inn, flirting with some girl. None of them would notice. The opportunity was to good not to take. He walked the few steps to the counter, grabbed the letter and returned to his seat.

(1) Athos will recognize this name, 'cause I used this as a kind of maiden name. I never liked the (idea of a) relationship between Milady and Lord de Winter inter in the book, so I wasn't going the use that anyway. That just never happened. And I liked De Winter better than any of the other surnames she was given in the book like De Brueil or Clarick.  
>(2) I used the name Disney used in their 1993's adaption, again 'cause I like this name better then Anne, her name in the original novel. And 'cause the queen is also called Anne. Although I will probably not use queen Anne in this story, I still wanted to avoid confusion.<p>

So, what do you think? Interesting enough to proceed? I hoped you enjoyed this first chapter of my first story. I really appreciate your opinion and can take a lot of feedback and constructive criticism, but please bear in mind that this is my first story and English isn't my native language. So please say it in a kind way.


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